Moderate Islam: Is It A Myth? The Great Debate

In 1995 Daniel Pipes, American academic, writer, and founder and director of the Middle East Forum, concerned with the danger of “radical” Islam to the Western world, wrote: “Unnoticed by most Westerners, war has been unilaterally declared on Europe and the U.S.” Four months before the 9/11 attacks, he and journalist Steve Emerson wrote in the Wall St. Journal, that Al Qaeda was planning new attacks on the U.S.

He has enraged many American Muslims by advocating that Muslims in government and the military be given special attention as security risks and by stating that mosques are breeding grounds for militants.

He maintains that the solution is to encourage the moderate Muslims to proliferate and go public.

Yet here he is at Shaare Shomayim, facing off against Dr. Wafa Sultan, a Muslim, who believes that the moderate Muslim is a myth. “Islam is Islam, and that’s it,” she stated. “Only people in the West try to make that distinction. It makes people feel better. It hides the radical nature of Islam.”